On July 25, we honor the life of St. James the greater. He is called “greater” because he is older than the other St. James, called “St. James the lesser”.
St. James the greater is the brother of St. John, and
they were fishermen in Galilee, recruited by Jesus together, following Peter
(Simon) and his brother, Andrew, as the first batch of his disciples (Matthew
4:18-22). Upon Jesus’ call, James and John immediately left their fishing net
and followed Jesus, as Peter and Andrew did.
Both James and John were zealous disciples, whom Jesus
called, “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). In fact, they were rather hot-tempered,
as they said to Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?” (Luke 9:54) in response to Samaritans’ inhospitality as
Jesus and the disciples were heading to Jerusalem and trying to go through
Samaria (Luke 9:51-56).
Together with his brother, John, and another fellow first-batch
recruit, Peter, James was one of the three-membered core of Jesus’ twelve
disciples. They had the privilege to witness Jesus’ first act of healing (Mark
1:29-31), the transfiguration of Jesus (Matt 17:1//Mark 9:2//Luke 9:28), raising
of Jairus’ dead daughter by Jesus (Mark 5:37-42//Luke 8:51-56), and Jesus’ intense
prayer in agony after the Lord’s Supper (Mathew 26:36-46//Mark 14:32-42).
One possible reason for James is one of the three core
disciples among the twelve is that he was destined to be the first to taste the
martyrdom among the twelve disciples. Indeed, he is the first apostle to be
martyred (Acts 12:1-2), while St. Stephen was the first deacon to be martyred
(Acts 7:54-8:2).
In the Gospel Reading of the feast of St. James the
greater (Matthew 20:20-28), Jesus asked both James and John, in response to
their mother asking him to give them a special place in his Kingdom, letting
them sit at his right and left (Matthew 20:20-21):
Can you drink the cup that I am going to
drink? (Matthew 20:22a).
And they said, “We can” (Matthew 20:22b).
Knowing that they did not know what they were saying
in saying, “we can”, Jesus said to them:
My cup you will indeed drink, but to sit
at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom
it has been prepared by my Father (Matthew 20:23).
The cup that Jesus drinks is the cup of martyrdom
(e.g. Matthew 26:39).
James and John obviously did not understand
what it means to drink the cup that Jesus drinks when they said that they could
drink. They and their mother seemed to be more interested in a special
privilege of the discipleship. But they were not aware that such a privilege as
sitting on the right or left side of Jesus in his Kingdom is up to the Father.
It was also obvious that they were not thinking of the cost of the discipleship
(e.g. Matthew 16:24-26). That is why Jesus pressed them with the question if
they would drink the cup that he drinks, the cup of martyrdom.
Though James and his brother, John, did not understand
this, James became the first apostle to drink the cup of martyrdom, as Jesus said,
“My cup you will indeed drink”(Matthew 20:23a).
A legend says that James brought Christ and his Good
News to Spain. But, he struggled in making disciples there. Being discouraged
and tired, James was thinking to give up on his mission in Spain. As he was
praying, Mary, though she was still living in Jerusalem together with other
apostles, appeared to him, standing on a pillar, and asked him to build a
church there. And she promised that the Spaniards would come to believe in
Christ. So he did before returning to Jerusalem. It was shortly after coming
back to Jerusalem that James was captured and executed by Herod Agrippa in 44
AD.
The First Reading (2 Corinthians 4:7-15) reflects James’ struggles during his mission in Spain. The churches he was trying to build there were the earthly vessels that he was holding in need of God’s surpassing power (2 Corinthians 4:7). His hardship on mission in Spain is reflected in these words: afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).
He had to face inhospitality there to the point of
thinking to give up preaching there. This time, he was not thinking to call
down fire from heaven to burn the Spaniards for giving him a hard time and not
being receptive to believe in Christ. James was more humble and prayed for a
solution. So Mary appeared to ail him. This is why Mary is known, in Spain, as Nuestra
Señora del Pilar (Our Lady of Pillar), standing on a pillar when appearing
to James.
James’ mission time in Spain also means being constantly
giving himself up to death for the sake of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:11-12). But,
his death did not come until he accomplished his mission in Spain.
Apparently, James’ mission became successful, the
earthly vessels he was holding in Spain, received God’s surpassing power,
thanks to Mary’s intercession. If not, why would Spaniards would become believers,
zealous enough to bring the body of James from Jerusalem to Spain, upon his
execution by Herod Agrippa?
Those who came to know and believe in Christ through him,
brought the body of St. James the greater to Spain and buried at Compostela in
Galicia. Ever since, Spaniards have been keeping him as their beloved patron
Saint, calling him as “Santiago de Compostela”(St. James of Compostela).
No comments:
Post a Comment